Review: The Huntress: Origins by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, et al.

Comic trade paperback, 224 pages
Published 2020 (contents: 1977-82)
Acquired January 2020
Read February 2020

The Huntress: Origins

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Writer: Paul Levitz

Penciller: Joe Staton
Inkers: Steve Mitchell, Bob Layton, Bruce Patterson, Jerry Ordway, Bob Smith, Mike DeCarlo
Colorists: Adrienne Roy, Anthony Tollin, Gene D'Angelo
Letterers: Todd Klein, John Costanza, Ben Oda, Janice Chiang, Bruce Patterson, Jean Simek, Milt Snapinn

The Huntress was, I think, the first concept original to Earth-Two to receive an ongoing feature since Earth-Two became Earth-Two, i.e., since the end of the Golden Age and the return of its characters as alternate reality denizens in the Silver Age. It demonstrates the potential of the concept: the Huntress is a character who could only exist on Earth-Two, a young woman trying to find her own way in the world while living up to the legacies of her superhero father and supervillain mother. You couldn't tell this story on Earth-One, but this kind of thing would become the backbone of Earth-Two stories, and then with the integration of Earth-Two, into DC's approach to its superheroes in general.

This story, where she has to defend a retired Alfred, was one my favorites, I think.
from Wonder Woman vol. 1 #294 (art by Joe Staton & Jerry Ordway)

The individual stories here are probably nothing special, but they work. Helena works at a public-interest law firm by day and fights crime by night. There's a nice sense that this is all grounded in the social realities of Gotham; you've read much more fanciful Batman-adjacent stories. The Huntress was always a feature in an anthology title, so the stories are typically serialized across installments of about eight pages, which keeps them moving briskly. I couldn't single any one story out, but I know that as I read them, I was always interested and engaged.

Nice eyebrows.
from Wonder Woman vol. 1 #271 (art by Joe Staton & Steve Mitchell)

Part of that is because of Joe Staton. Staton, I think, is a now-neglected heavyweight of 1980s comics, an era where he did good work on Legion of Super-Heroes, Green Lantern, Action Comics, and Millennium (among, I'm sure, others). I always like his atmospheric style, but it's particularly suited to adventures in Gotham City at night, sometimes blocky, but with Helena's athleticism and attractiveness always clear.

A very helpful torturer.
from Wonder Woman vol. 1 #289 (art by Joe Staton & Bruce D. Patterson)

This volume collects the first five years of Huntress solo adventures, all of the ones written by Paul Levitz. Joey Cavalieri took over writing the character after that, with Staton continuing on art at first, up until the point the character was obliterated by the Crisis,* but none of that material has been collected. Unfortunately, as I'm willing to track down some pretty random stuff, but buying a ton of issues of Wonder Woman because of a back-up feature doesn't really appeal.

* Well, beyond, actually, as Cavalieri also wrote the 1989-90 ongoing series that introduced the post-Crisis Huntress, who had no relationship to Bruce Wayne or Selina Kyle.

This post is the second in a series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. The next installment covers All-Star Squadron. Previous installments are listed below:

1. All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever (1976-79)